Bessent says executive order requiring banks to collect citizenship info on customers 'in process'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that an executive order that requires banks to collect citizenship information about its customers is expected to come later this year.

The executive order was first teased earlier this year as a way to crack down on illegal immigration and is expected to require banks to request additional identification documents from customers to prove citizenship. REAL ID will not count.

Bessent told Semafor that he does not believe the new order would be unreasonable and that the owners of his home in the United Kingdom need to know every person who lives in the building.

“It’s in process. And I don’t think it’s unreasonable," Bessent said. "Why don’t we have information on who’s in our banking system? I have a place in the UK; they want to know who lives in every apartment. How do we know that it’s not part of a foreign terrorist organization?”

The secretary did not indicate when the order would come out, but it comes after Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton asked the Trump administration to look into current rules that allow illegal migrants to obtain access to U.S. banking systems.

“Access to the American banking system is a privilege that should be reserved for those who respect our laws and sovereignty,” Cotton wrote last year. “When individuals are allowed to open accounts without verifying legal status, we are permitting illegal aliens to establish financial roots and integrate economically, all while bypassing the legal channels that millions use properly.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.